The wheels on the bus go round and round – from electricity.
The first electric school buses will hit city streets this year after Mayor de Blasio signs an executive order requiring more than 20,000 on-road vehicles in New York City’s municipal fleet be plug-in electric by 2040.
The order, which de Blasio will announce in his annual State of the City on Thursday, will mean every single garbage truck, ferry, ambulance, police cruiser, bus, car and vehicle owned and operated by municipal agencies will have to be fully electric.
There are 25,104 on-road vehicles in the fleet now, just 8.5% or 2,134 are electric. The city also has 5,613 off-road vehicles like carts and light towers, and about 10% or 548 of them are electric.
The mayor’s office expects to see a 50% reduction in emissions from the fleet by 2025. The effort will cost $36 million next fiscal year and the city is assessing the price tag going forward.
“To address our climate crisis, New York City needs to stop burning fossil fuels and electrify everything,” said de Blasio, who insists on being driven 12 miles in a hybrid minivan to his favorite gym on most workdays. “That’s why we’re making our entire fleet electric by 2040 – the equivalent of taking 750,000 cars off the street.”
The order will require the city to buy the safest, cleanest type available anytime new vehicles must be purchased or older ones have to be replaced, phasing out non-electric models. The city would also have to identify long-term low or no carbon options for all vehicles and issue an annual report on the effort.